Doctrine: Mobility
Of the many schools of thought, Mobilty ''is the doctrine in which a military force strives to achieve mobility. It is an extremely offensive-oriented doctrine. Essentially, one can compare it to the philosophy behind Blitzkrieg on Earth. Mobility is an expensive doctrine, requiring an extensive industrial network to support a force of tanks, mechanized and motorized infantry forces, and self-propelled artillery in combination with supportive air forces and logistics. Its proponents cite ''concentrated power, rapid movement, and integrated military effort as its key components. Strategic Observations On the Attack Mobility is a doctrine keen on the offensive. The general goal here is to be able to apply extreme force to the weakest point of an enemy's defense and then pour through the breakthrough. Fast-moving units exploit this to capture as much territory as possible and cut off enemy supply lines. Armoured spearhead units would make the inital push, while infantry forces, themselves also fast, would move in to secure and hold the area after the armored units have moved on. Air support is crucial to a fast-moving force - the force cannot afford to get caught in one place for very long as mobile units tend to be somewhat more fragile and not capable of standing up to prolonged combat. Air power can help to penetrate enemy strongpoints, isolate enemy forces from supply and communications. One of the greater uses behind a mobile force is to strike and take hold of critical locations before the enemy can properly respond and mobilize forces to counter-attack. A series of short but decisive battles is how a mobile force seeks to win - not dragged out long wars of attrition, which a mobile force is likely to lose. On the Defense Although the proponents of mobile military strategy intended it to be used on the offensive, it found its niche in defensive operations as well. A term called 'elastic defense' is used to refer to mobile forces on the defense. Essentially, fast skirmishing units are seen as more effective at defense of a wide area than slower, heavier garrison troops. The basis for a defense conducted by a mobile force is in itself an offensive one, however, with emphasis being placed on staging a counterattack against the enemy forces at a crucial point and destroying the enemy's offensive capability. Here, air power still plays a key role, in denying the enemy of air supremacy. Limitations and countermeasures Logistics Mobile forces are difficult to plan for and supply effectively. In general, any strategy based on maneuvre has the risk of overextending the supply lines and capabilities of an army. All those mobile units often guzzle fuel and so if the initial strike is not successful it may prove very difficult to have an enduring force for very long. In astral terms, mobility is an extremely impractical doctrine for a navy. Ships simply do not move fast enough and cannot be adequately supplied over any real distance that isn't planned for ahead of time. However, the lack of reliable and fast interstellar communications means that it is possible to catch an enemy by surprise long before they can mount a proper response, as was noted during the Polaris Wars and others. Preparedness Mobility is a doctrine that finds great success in catching an enemy by surprise and defeating him before he can mount a suitable response. However, it finds itself vulnerable against an enemy that is capable of dealing with the initial attacks effectively enough and mobilizing a quick response force, able to cope with enemy formations moving very quickly and able to surmount a mobile force's air supremacy with its own air force. Especially so if the mobile force cannot continue to poor resources into the crucial point of attack and keep the forces fighting well-supplied. If the enemy is willing to give up territory in order to establish a strong response and counter-attack to the mobile attacking forces, the strategy often loses its merits. Environs Armoured units and air power are extremely dependent on weather, terrain, planet, and technological capabilities. A force of tanks cannot operate in muddy, hilly terrain, but will perform extremely well in flat or rolling plains and grassland. This also limits their effectiveness on a planet-wide scale - some planets' entire surfaces are completely impractical for armoured or wheeled formations, and dense atmospheres may make air power all but useless. Mobility is therefore only applicable on a small scale - in a particular engagement where a situation would benefit from it. Its application and usage in various wars throughout history demonstrate this very clearly - a single colony may adopt it as its defense forces main strategy, but an entire empire would not. Notable Users *Kingdom of Polaris *Germany *United States See Also *Doctrine: Firepower *Doctrine: Initiative *Doctrine: Air Power *Doctrine: Flexibility *Doctrine: Naval Supremacy *Doctrine: Wave *Doctrine: Specalization *Doctrine: Defense *Adaptive Doctrine Category:Doctrines